


stolen tulips

by childofthenight2035



Series: Put Your Glasses On [28]
Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, music producer!Jaebeom, preschool teacher!Jinyoung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26810407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofthenight2035/pseuds/childofthenight2035
Summary: Jaebeom ducks back inside the car, grabbing the bottle of water. In his rear-view mirror he can see the twins scrolling on their phones, bored. It almost makes him feel like a father. The thought makes him smile, and all of a sudden he feels far too grateful for them all.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Series: Put Your Glasses On [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685593
Comments: 17
Kudos: 104





	stolen tulips

**Author's Note:**

> TW: please don't read this if you're uncomfortable with vehicular accidents, death, cemeteries, please, i don't want to hurt anyone.

“Hyung, hyung, pull up here.” Jinyoung squirms in place, pointing urgently to the nearing petrol station. Jaebeom obeys, hastily manoeuvring the car to the side of the road and coming to a halt. “I need to pee—!” is barely heard before Jinyoung’s leaping out of the vehicle and dashing away. Jaebeom parks and twists to check on the twins in the backseat. 

“You two okay? Need to go to the restroom?”

Yeji quickly takes out her earphones when she sees that Jaebeom is saying something. Her eyes dart to her brother, who shakes his head. 

“I don’t need to go. I’m good.” Catching on, Yeji replies similarly. Jaebeom nods, facing ahead and decides to step out and stretch his legs a little. 

He didn’t think Jinyoung would take him to meet the family even this soon—it’s already been seven months but this topic is one they really danced around. Jinyoung’s been secretive about it; it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. But Jaebeom trusted him to open up about it and it looks like he is. 

He ducks back inside, grabbing the bottle of water. In his rear-view mirror he can see the kids scrolling on their phones, bored. 

“Hyung?”

He hums in response. 

“Um. I don’t think we said thanks for driving us home, so…thanks.”

He smiles, eyes curving into crescents, and reaches back to ruffle Hyunjin’s hair. “You don’t need to thank me for that,” he says easily. “I wanted to come. Why wouldn’t I want to meet your family? You guys have met mine.” Jaebeom _doesn’t_ miss how Hyunjin’s smile falters at his words, but he forgets to prod when the boy’s whole face lights up and he blabbers about how _adorable_ Yugyeom was and _it’s a crime that Jinyoung hyung didn’t let us meet him earlier_ and _when can we see him again?_

And Jinyoung returns then, so they set off again towards Jinhae.

-

“Oh, my darlings!” 

Jaebeom hides a smile as the twins’ mother rushes to them, not a shred of embarrassment at her affection in front of her customers. She smothers all three of them in hugs and kisses, and then, much to his surprise, tugs him down as well. “And you must be Jaebeom!”

He can only choke out a _yes, ma’am_ , from the tight circle of her arms, but he doesn’t mind all that much. She’s a nice woman with nice kids and a nice restaurant. She nearly drags them over to a table so they can eat something; it’s nearing lunch time—but Jinyoung stops her gently. 

“I was thinking of taking Jaebeom to my parents first,” he says calmly—and again, there’s a split second of silence. 

“Oh, of course!” she exclaims sweetly, and Jaebeom doesn’t notice the slight concern in her eyes. “Go on, then. I expect you back here to eat!”

Jinyoung leads him out around the back, cutting across the property until they reach a smaller road branching off from the main one. The air is so much cleaner here, so much fresher, and Jaebeom revels in it, drawing in deep breaths. They don’t speak much as they trot along, neither one willing to break the peace. Jaebeom pauses when his boyfriend does, watching in surprise as he glances around discreetly and plucks a couple of tulips from clearly someone else’s planters. Before he can so much as hiss _Jinyoung!_ they’re taking off down the road, breathless. 

“Mom likes tulips best,” is the only explanation he receives and he supposes it can slide.

Jaebeom slows to a walk alongside him, admiring the clear sky and how much closer this town is to nature. He only looks around a bit when they pass a church. It’s a quaint little place; makes him kind of homesick for his own town. 

It takes him a beat to realize that Jinyoung isn’t beside him anymore. Jaebeom stops, turns to see him with a hand on the little gate leading to a plot of land next to the church, unmoving, like he’s waiting.

Jaebeom’s breath hitches. “ _Jinyoung,_ ” he whispers, audible in the stillness. Jinyoung sighs, and unlatches the gate. He doesn’t look back at Jaebeom as he steps in. 

Heart clenching in his chest, Jaebeom follows. 

He finds Jinyoung kneeling in front of a gravestone, carefully placing the two flowers in front of it. Jaebeom doesn’t know what to do, does he stand there? does he also kneel? His decision is put on standby, however, as Jinyoung begins to speak.

“Hey, Mom,” he says, quiet. “I brought you tulips.” It’s such a knife to Jaebeom’s gut, to see the slow, sad smile flitting across his lips. “Okay, I _know_ , I shouldn’t steal, but where else am I going to get those? Couldn’t you like dandelions or something?” Jinyoung tilts his head to one side, and touches the stone to the right. “I don’t have anything for you, Dad, and you can’t complain because you never say what you like. You _know_ how hard it was for us to get you any kind of gift.” A shake of the head, a breathy laugh, and he turns to his left. “Uncle…you don’t need to worry about your kids, okay? I can practically hear you grumbling. They’re fine.”

It’s now that Jaebeom reads the inscriptions on the stones. The names and the dates. The three stones Jinyoung addressed have the same date of death—a terrible, terrible day a little more than eight years ago. Jaebeom’s heart sinks at the realization.

“I told you at Christmas about…about a guy I met, right? Jaebeom?” Jinyoung gestures to him. “I brought him here. I thought it was time for everyone to meet him.” Jaebeom takes this as his cue to kneel as well. 

“Hello,” he manages to say, voice as steady as possible, “I’m Jaebeom…I’m…”

“He’s my boyfriend, Mom.” Jinyoung’s fingers curl around his wrist. “And I really fucking love him.”

Jaebeom’s entire being really does stutter at that—there’s a near total shift in reality that has him reeling. They haven’t exchanged those words yet; of course, Jaebeom already knows his heart. He just hasn’t dared to say it aloud.

“I’m sorry; I cursed.” Jinyoung laughs, turning to face him, eyes crinkling. Jaebeom _aches_ with how much he’s feeling at the moment. 

“You’ve raised a perfect son,” Jaebeom murmured, squeezing the hand around his. “He’s become such a capable, talented person…he has so much love to give. I guess I’m just a lucky man.” Jinyoung blushes a little, diverting his gaze. “He makes me so, _so_ happy…and I love him, too.”

They stay there awhile, the soft breeze and sunlight making the cemetery a picture-perfect scene. The bushes around the church have bloomed. 

“It was a road accident,” Jinyoung says suddenly, breaking the air of tranquillity. “It was raining hard and a truck hit them.” It’s only now that his voice wobbles and Jaebeom wants to tell him he doesn’t have to—but this is band-aid that needs to be torn off. “I guess the roads were slippery or something.” He draws his shoulders in. “I don’t know. I was never told.” It’s all Jaebeom can do to put his arm around him. 

A bird chirps in the distance; another pause.

“They were coming to see _me_ ,” he bursts out, louder. “They didn’t have to come all the way to Seoul. _I_ asked them to, begged them to, I told them I missed them—!” He buried his face in his hands. “I wish I could change time and tell them _not_ to. Why did I have to insist—?”

And his next words are muffled by Jaebeom’s shirt, held close to him. “Don’t say it’s your fault, Jinyoung. Don’t. They made their own decision to come visit you—because they love you, don’t they?” A nod. “They don’t want you to beat yourself up over this, do they? Ask them, I’m sure they don’t.”

Jinyoung pulls away, chuckling wetly. “That true, Mom?” A reluctant smile passes over his lips. He shakes his head, touching the tulips once. “I hope you won’t miss me too much, yeah? I’ll come by before I go back.” 

He pushes himself to a standing position, dusting off his knees. Jaebeom remains where he is, cogs turning in his brain. There’s something he should do, something he wants to say.

But not to Jinyoung.

“Hyung, aren’t you coming?”

Absently, he shakes his head. “Go on,” he tells him, “I’ll be right there.”

**Author's Note:**

> i probably ended up hurting y'all anyway


End file.
